Route update · September 27
The walk now goes through Tsawwassen, and is back on schedule in Victoria
Day 22 · Scheduled earlier
Bone Marrow Awareness Day — Tsawwassen
Tsawwassen, Delta, British Columbia
Tsawwassen: why a donor’s ancestry matters
This day on the route
- Planned date
- The day
- Awareness Day
- Planned walking
- No planned route miles
Day 22: planned Awareness Day in Tsawwassen, with no planned route miles. A public time and meeting place must be confirmed separately.
The fourth planned Awareness Day is spent in Tsawwassen, with no walking planned. Jeana plans to spend it recruiting marrow donors in the Tsawwassen First Nation community. The day’s reading covers why ancestry matters in a match and who can join the Canadian registry.
This is the first of two Bone Marrow Awareness Days in Tsawwassen, and the fourth on the walk. On an Awareness Day Jeana stays in one place. In her words, “I stay where I am to educate about donors, transplants, how and why they should join.”
In Tsawwassen she plans to spend that time recruiting marrow donors in the Tsawwassen First Nation community: talking with people about donors and transplants, and encouraging those who are eligible to join the Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Registry. Joining itself happens through the registry.
Canadian Blood Services explains why that matters. Most patients do not have a matching donor in their own family, and a patient is more likely to find a match in a donor of similar ancestry. That is why, it says, its registry needs people of all backgrounds, including many more of Indigenous ancestry. In a 2024 story it noted that people of First Nations, Métis and Inuit descent together made up less than two per cent of those listed on its registry.
In Canada outside Québec, the registry is the Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Registry. It currently accepts new applicants aged 17 to 35 who meet its requirements. Joining means answering eligibility questions, giving consent and returning a cheek-swab kit for tissue typing. Québec residents are directed to Héma-Québec.
The health questions are there for a reason. Canadian Blood Services says its screening protects both the potential donor and the patient, and anyone unsure about their own circumstances can ask the registry directly before deciding.
From the road
In Tsawwassen, a call back from Serena and a warm bed out of the rain
She had a lot to share that day. She used every minute she could before the motel’s 11 a.m. checkout calling around for places to stay for her two additional nights in Tsawwassen. She was also contacted by a friend of her sister Mona’s about possible lodging and support once she reached Sidney, on Vancouver Island.
The motel let her carry on calling from its office. She had left messages with the Tsawwassen First Nation’s health services department, and she received a call back from a wonderful woman named Serena. Serena understood right away the importance of increasing the enrolment of First Nations people on the Canadian Blood Services registry. Jeana was able to give Serena the details of Eric, her contact at Canadian Blood Services, and Serena shared hers in return. Serena suggested that Canadian Blood Services could come and give a presentation. Jeana was so pleased with the warm reception and the swift move to action.
She started making her way to Delta Fire Station 2, to talk about how to join the Canadian Blood Services registry. On the way she stopped at the Wood N Frog Coffee Company. She had not had any breakfast, and it was already after noon. They gave her a delicious bowl of soup and a cup of coffee.
She received a warm welcome at the fire station, and they promised to spread the word all around about how important, and how easy, it is to join the Canadian Blood Services registry. It was starting to rain, so they directed her to the Tsawwassen Library, for shelter and a place where she could carry on with her work.
At the library she left messages with the Rotary Club of Tsawwassen and with churches in town about her need for a place to stay. She did not trust her tent for the night, with the rain expected to continue.
To her surprise, she heard someone call out her name. It was Nigel, whom she had met the day before on the Boundary Bay Dyke Trail. They talked for quite a while about the fifth Steps to Marrow walk and her stay in Tsawwassen. Nigel suggested she call the Tsawwassen Alliance Church. She did, and the people there said they would call her back if they were able to find a place for her to sleep. Then Nigel took her to Tim Hortons and bought her lunch, and she was so grateful to have nourishment for her body.
As she was finishing her meal, she received a call from Reverend Marie of the Tsawwassen United Church. Reverend Marie had got her message about needing housing and had called some of the members of her congregation. One of them, Mary, had offered Jeana a place to stay out of the rain. Reverend Marie was very thoughtful and emphasised the importance of taking care of folks in need, and Jeana thanked her for her kindness.
Mary picked her up at the Tsawwassen Library at 6 p.m. and made a lovely pasta for dinner. They chatted, and by 8 p.m. Jeana was climbing into a dry, warm bed with a grateful heart.
I can see the beautiful work that the First Nations and Canadian Blood Services can do together.
- Distance walked
- 1 miles
Choose where you live
Continue to the official registry that serves you. It decides eligibility, handles registration and contacts you if you may match a patient.
Where in Canada?
Canada outside Québec — Canadian Blood Services
The Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Registry asks for people aged 17 to 35 in good general health. You answer eligibility questions online, complete a profile and sign a consent form; a cheek-swab kit arrives in the mail within one to three weeks for you to swab and return. If you live in Québec, you register with Héma-Québec instead. Canadian Blood Services makes the final eligibility decision.
Check the listed age range
Browse all official registry options
Eligibility rules can change. Confirm the current requirements with the official registry before joining.
Give to the Jada Bascom Foundation
Choose a symbolic amount or enter your own in Givebutter. Your donation supports JBF’s work wherever it is needed most.
Sponsoring a mile, a day or a stop is a way of describing a gift to the Jada Bascom Foundation. It does not purchase anything on the route.
$100.00 is a suggested amount. Confirm or change it in Givebutter.
Sources
Local history and background reading for this stop.
- Ethnic diversity and stem cell donation — checked Sep 27, 2026
- How an Indigenous stem cell donor saved a life on Canada’s opposite coast — checked Sep 27, 2026
- Stem cell donation eligibility and registration — checked Sep 5, 2026
- Join our stem cell registry — checked Sep 5, 2026
- About Delta — checked Sep 27, 2026
